Love and other impossible things
by bannonluke
Summary: AU. Donna Noble is the one who watches over The Doctor while he’s human. Which leads to serious complications… Spoilers for Human Nature/Family of Blood and Journey's End. John Smith/Donna, some Doctor/Donna


**Title: **Love and other impossible things

**Author: **adroidmortox247 or bannonluke

**Summary: **AU. Donna is the one who watches over The Doctor while he's human. Which leads to serious complications…

**Disclaimer: **I don't own these characters. I've also posted this on my livejournal and a few of the LJ doctor who communities.

**Pairing: **John Smith/Donna, mild Donna/Doctor

**Spoilers: **Human Nature/Family of Blood, also a bit set post-Journey's End

**Rating: **R- some naughtiness, but nothing graphic

**Author's notes: **This was originally a prompt at sizeofthatthing . _"Set in and based on Human Nature/Family of Blood, Donna is the maid, keeping an eye on human!Ten. He fancies Donna instead of Nurse Redfern." _. I decided to rework it into a less smutty, more romantic fic. With bonus Journey's End fix-it scenario.

Many thanks to gregorypeck and xenarocks2 for beta-reading, helping me with my grammar/spelling and giving me a few pointers. You guys rock!

John Smith couldn't help but stare as Donna scrubbed his bedroom floor. She had the most magnificent posterior he had ever seen. That wasn't to say the rest of her wasn't just as lovely. He knew it was wrong- she being a maid, a commoner, a Londoner of all things, but she drove him mad. Not that he would ever act on these urges of course. Donna sighed. She could tell he was staring at her bum again. On the one hand, she was glad The Doctor was finally noticing her that way. On the other hand, she was irritated by his reluctance to do anything about it.

A thought then occurred to Donna. She knew he didn't have any classes this afternoon. Maybe she would have to take matters into her own hands.

"Will that be all Mr. Smith?" She enquired.

John was snapped out of his daydream.

"Um, yes." He said quickly. "You can go."

Donna stood up, and approached him. She then put her arms around his neck.

"Are you sure," she asked teasingly, "There's nothing I can help you with?"

She leaned forward to kiss him.

John was startled. _Such forwardness! Such disrespect! Such… aw, who cares?_

John leaned in and kissed Donna. He was startled by her intensity. Her tongue worked its way into his mouth, as her hand started to wander downward.

He broke the kiss off and backed away from her.

"This is wrong." He said flatly. "We must control ourselves. What would others think?"

"But sir," Donna said, "I'm very good at keeping secrets."

John smiled. "Very well then."

He kissed her. Suddenly he broke off again.

"But what if… babies, and all that…"

Donna rolled her eyes. For an intelligent man, his vocabulary really sucked sometimes. Even when he was a Time Lord.

"There are other ways sir…" She teased.

She kissed him again.

He broke it off. This was getting REALLY OLD…

"But, diseases, and such…"

Donna's sharp take of breath stopped John dead.

"Excuse me?!" She fumed. "What do you think I am? Some trollop? I don't just stick my tongue into any old Joe's mouth! I'm very selective in my choice of partners. I should be worried about catching some strange disease from YOU. I don't know where you've been!"

John blinked rapidly, startled by Donna's outburst. _What brought that on? _He then ran the conversation through his head again. _Oh dear. _He'd put his foot in it.

"No," he stuttered, "I was thinking about you. I won't want to get you sick or anything. I've had this dreadful cold for a week now."

Donna snorted. "I clean up after dirty boys all day. They wallow in mud. They don't know how to use a handkerchief, or even remember to put up the toilet seat. If I hadn't had a superb immune system, I wouldn't be able to even work within 10 miles of this cesspool."

"Now, where were we…" Donna asked as she walked toward John again.

He threw up a hand between them. John still felt uneasy kissing Donna. He couldn't stand the thought that he had forced her to kiss him.

"But, wouldn't this be me taking advantage of you?" John asked.

"I'd like to see you try." Donna commented. "It's not taking advantage, if I really want it. And trust me… I want this."

Reassured, John finally relented and kissed her back.That was the first of many, many times over the next few months the two of them had sex. There was one moment of awkwardness, when Donna at the height of orgasm accidentally called out "Doctor!"She was scared how John was going to react.

There was a brief glimmer in his eyes, like he recognised it.

"Doctor," he said puzzled, "I like it!"

"Ahh…" Donna stalled as her brain scrambled for a way out of her predicament. "You are a Doctor, aren't you? You have a Doctorate in History. That makes you Doctor Smith."

"Donna, what have I told you?" He said teasingly. "When it's just the two of us, call me John."

"Alright then, Johnny!" Donna teased.

John smiled sheepishly, as he lay beside her.

"I've had this idea for a story. About the adventures of a man and his blue box. It's the most remarkable recurring dream I have. I just wasn't sure what to call him. But Doctor sounds good."He leaned forward and kissed Donna intensely."I've never told anyone that before." he confessed.

"I'm not just anyone sir." Donna replied.

"Indeed not." John replied, as he started to feel her breast again. "You're… brilliant." he sighed.

As time went on, something changed in their relationship. It became more than just great sex. John became a lot more relaxed when it was just Donna and him. He was also far more affectionate. He started asking more about her family, her interests, what made her happy. He wanted to get inside her head, find out what made her tick. What made her the woman she was today.

At first, Donna was reluctant to divulge anything.

"Oh sir, you don't want to know anything about me." Donna said wearily. "I'm just a… servant. Someone to wash your clothes and… do other things. I'm no-one special."

John looked indignant at that.

"That's nonsense!" He remarked.

"Well sir," Donna asked, "Don't you sometimes wish you had someone… better to spend your time with?"

"What, like Nurse Redfern?" He asked resentfully, "Or Mister Philips? Lord no."

He then got serious.

"Donna," He began, "You're more then a servant. And you're more then just a passing fancy. You've become… my best friend."

Those words meant more to Donna than all the planets, stars and travelling they had done together. It wasn't as though The Doctor never said anything like that. He was always telling her how brilliant she was. But coming from John, it actually meant something special.

Over the next few weeks, the two became each others' confidants. Donna would tell John about her hopes, her worries, and how she was scared that her mum was right. She even revealed her greatest fear: that she was just wasting her life. It was such a relief to finally be able to talk to someone about these feelings. She couldn't tell Gramps, as while loving, he was never the best at offering her advice. And she certainly couldn't tell The Doctor.

In return, John would share the stories from the journal he was writing. And he also had someone to voice some of his less popular opinions to, such as his opposition to training the boys to use arms. He loved Donna's healthy contempt for the pomposity around them. He knew that she would always keep him on the right path.

Things took a serious turn one night when John invited Donna to his room for dinner. This in itself was a momentous occasion. Matron would be outraged if she found out. But then, during the evening, John said the words. Those dreaded words that would make everything that little bit more complicated.

It just slipped out. "I love you."

Donna nearly choked on her cup of tea.

"What?!" She exclaimed.

"I… love you." John said plainly.

There was an awkward silence."I don't know what to say." Donna said truthfully. "I mean… this changes a lot."

"It doesn't have to." John interjected. "I mean, you like being with me, right?"

"Of course!" Donna said.

John meant so much to her. She felt… different around him. She wasn't sure what it was. _It was as though- oh bugger_. She realised what it was.

"John…" she said worriedly, "I think I love you too."

"Really?" John asked happily.

Donna nodded.

"Then what's the problem?" John asked. "We just need to continue being discreet."

Donna got up from her chair.

"I need… time to think this through. Goodnight Mr. Smith."

She rushed out of the room, leaving John perplexed.

She opened the door of the TARDIS, and walked up to the monitor. She replayed The Doctor's message. Fat lot of good it was. Don't let me hurt anyone, don't let me eat pears etc. etc.

But there was nothing on what Donna wanted to know. What to do in case John fell in love. Particularly with her? _What the hell am I meant to do? Oh, the thought probably didn't even cross his mind. Stupid Space-man. _

That left Donna in a quandary. Because she certainly didn't know how to handle it. The best thing she could do was try to explain it to him.

She knocked on his bedroom door- hesitantly. _Would he be mad at me?_

The door opened.

She couldn't read the expression on John's face.

"I can explain," she began.

John put his finger to her lip, effectively silencing her.

"You don't need to explain anything-" he whispered.

Donna smiled, pleased that she didn't have to explain after all.

"May I come in?" She enquired.

John returned her smile.

"But of course."

She was lying in his arms, after a passionate session of makeup sex.

"This can't last." She murmured. "Us I mean."

John kissed her on the top of her forehead.

"Donna," John said, "I would rather be with you for five minutes, than not be with you at all."

Donna grinned, secretly pleased that he would think such sappy nonsense about her.

"Just five minutes?" She teased.

"Well," He replied, "you know what I mean."

Donna kissed him, although she couldn't shake the feeling that heart-break was lurking just around the corner.

The next three months were perhaps the happiest time of Donna's life. Despite their best efforts to be discreet, their relationship became something of an open secret in the school. But really, apart from a few harsh looks from Nurse Redfern, or the odd jibe about Mrs Smith by Baines or Hutchinson, no-one noticed..

But, as Donna predicted, it couldn't last. The Family had found them. Donna had tried to explain the truth to John, but he rejected it at first. It was only now, as they sat in the Cartwright's empty cottage, that the gravity of the situation sunk in. And they realised their time was up.

The anguish on John's face tore Donna's heart in two, causing dears to run down her face as well. Nevertheless, he had to die, so that The Doctor could save the world. Again.

"Why me?" He wept. "Why do I have to die?"

"I'm sorry." Donna remarked regretfully.

"You don't have to apologise. It's his fault!" John howled. "It was… The Doctor that put you up to this. That stupid… space man."

Donna looked offended at his remark."John," She said sternly, "I won't have you say that about my best friend. I'm the only one allowed to call him that."

John dried his eyes.

"He'll do the same to you." He stated factually. "He doesn't feel for you like I do. If he needed to, he'd sacrifice you."

"That's the choice I made by travelling with him." Donna replied.

John sighed. He then thrust something into Donna's hand.

"Your journal?" She asked.

"So I'll be remembered." He explained. "So that you'll remember us."

Donna wrapped her arms around him and kissed him passionately. After she finished, she looked him straight in the eye.

"John," she said firmly. "I'll never forget you or our time together. Thank you… for everything."

John returned her kiss with just as much passion as he could muster.

"No," he began, "Thank you."

They then reluctantly parted.

"One last time?" John asked. "For old times sake?"Donna nodded.

Their love-making was bitter-sweet. There was a quiet desperation to John's actions, as though he didn't want it to end. Truthfully, neither did Donna. She knew that once The Doctor was back, he'd revert to being just a skinny bit of alien nothing. That broke her heart in more ways than one.When she eventually climaxed, tears were running down her face.

John held her for a few more minutes.

_Why couldn't this last? _He thought to himself bitterly._ If The Doctor was so great, why couldn't there be a way to save the world, AND stay human?_

He sighed. He realised he was being selfish.

He got up, and started to dress again.

"Time to die." He said solemnly.

"Now then," The Doctor said as he adjusted the co-ordinates.

"Right now the Dragons of Stavromula Beta will be migrating across the Lynxara system. Beautiful sight. What do you say?"

He noticed Donna was staring at the TARDIS' glowing column, oblivious to what he was saying.

"Donna?" He asked.

"Hmm?" She asked. "Oh yeah. Dragons. Great."

The Doctor could tell something was wrong. He wasn't sure what it was about or even what to do. Give him an army of daleks to fight, or an evil genius to match his wits against, he'd have no trouble. But reading people's feelings… that was difficult.

_Hug her, you fool. _Part of his subconscious cried out. Normally, he would ignore it, but she seemed in such a state.

He wrapped his arms around her, and kissed the top of her forehead.

"Thank you." He said. "I can't thank you enough."

"Yeah," Donna sighed. "I did good didn't I?"

She then stood up on her toes and kissed him.T

he Doctor was startled."We… we won't be the same." He said sorrowfully. "I mean, I'm not John Smith."

"Doesn't matter." Donna said. "Part of him is in you. So that way, he's not really dead."She then grabbed The Doctor by the hand, and lead him to the bedroom.

A few weeks had past since that nonsense about planets in the sky. Donna had found a new job in the library. Permanent , excellent pay. Her mum was over the moon. Although she still wondered where half her things had disappeared to. One day, after arriving home from work, she went up to her room. Strangely enough, her missing things were all in a box on her bed. Weird. There was one item in particular that caught her attention. It was a small, blue book. She glanced at the title, _"A Journal of Impossible Things"_ by John Smith.

_John Smith? Wasn't that Granddad's friend? The one who does his disappearing act every time I come near him? _Donna considered this momentarily. _Nah, couldn't be._ She vaguely remembered another John Smith. _Was it in secondary school? _She remembered a school anyway. _Oh like it mattered._Curious, she opened the book. There was a disclaimer_**'The Events of this work, are entirely fictional. Any connection to anyone or thing living, dead, undead or yet to be born is merely a coincidence. Call it a result of wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff**_.'Donna smirked. _He certainly knows how to get a reader's attention._Donna was enthralled by the vivid imagery in the book. She could picture the Blue Box, and the funny little man who travelled in it. She lost track of time as she got absorbed in the tales of the mad adventurer. Some of them were a bit silly, but others had a real poetry to them. _The isolation of this damaged traveller. And his wonderful adventures. All the strange, strange creatures._

She grew quite fond of Rose and her family. Which is why her heart broke at the bitter parting on the beach. However, she nearly dropped the book at the cliff-hanger. _A mysterious red-head in a wedding dress? What? _

Unknown to Donna, as she continued to read, her brain was working over-time. Parts of it that were sealed off were slowly easing their way into her subconscious. She wasn't aware of it, but the book was saving her life.

She read as fast as her brain could process it. She skipped over Martha's story (_It seemed to be just unrequited love nonsense_) and only glanced at the next part. (_The Titanic at Christmas? Daft!_ ) And read about the return of… her.

_This can't just be a coincidence. _She thought to herself. _How many temps in Chiswick were there called Donna Noble, and fit my description? _The author had all of her traits down, not to mention her family's. _Oh lord, was Granddad's friend researching me? Was that why he kept popping round?_

An eerie feeling of déjà vu came over her as she read about the encounters with babies made from fat, the horror of Pompeii, and the triumph of the Ood Revolution. She even remembered odd, insignificant details that the author didn't mention, like the smell of Vesuvius' chambers or the melancholy tune of the Ood song. It seemed odd that she could invent such a vivid picture of places she'd never been to.

The novel cut off with a story about The Doctor being pursued. Having to hide himself, with Donna protecting him. But the Family were tracking them. It wouldn't be long before they were found. And then… _What, that was it? Talk about a let down. _Donna's eyes then turned to a post-script. Her jaw nearly dropped._**Donna, **_it began. _**I know I probably shouldn't have let you keep this. But I know how much John Smith meant to you. I'm sorry that I couldn't help you in the way that he did. Also, if I worked this out right, and I am very clever, by now the meta-crisis would have healed. You saved me, protected me when I was human. This was the least I could do. If not, I am so sorry. Yours…**_

"The Doctor." She read aloud.

Donna paused.

She heard a couple of familiar voices coming from the living room.

"And if it doesn't work?" Sylvia snapped. "What then?"

"It's worth a try." Wilf replied.

"Anything to get our Donna back."

Donna hesitated. _Should I tell them?_"

Should I check on her?" Wilf asked.

"No." A third voice said. "Best not."

She grinned. _Well, now I know what to do._

Donna swanned into the living room, with the book in hand.

"Oh, Mr Smith." She grinned in her best 'shallow Donna' voice.

"This yours?" She asked holding out the book to him.

The stranger nodded."

Have you read it?" He asked.

"Bits and pieces." Donna replied. "Some of the guys down at the library would love it, but I found it too far-fetched."

The man looked crestfallen. Donna knew it wasn't right playing games like this, but she figured some payback was due for the hell he put her through.

"I mean, a man who flies around in a blue box?" She said incredulously, "That can go anywhere in the universe? Any point of history? Rubbish!"

"Right…" The man said. "Listen, I should be going…"

"Plus you got me all wrong." She deadpanned.

That got The Doctor's attention.

"What?" He stuttered.

Donna glanced through the book casually. "I mean, that whole 'feeling like I'm nothing' stuff?' Please. I know I'm great."

Her face lit up when she smiled."After all, you told me enough times."

"Donna!" Wilf yelled, tears of joy running down his face. Sylvia looked relieved too.

The Doctor looked flabbergasted. It was though he was trying to pick which of the millions of questions that were shooting through his head to ask first.

Donna cut him off by wrapping her arms around him.

Eventually, The Doctor said, "Welcome back."

Donna whispered to him, "Thank you."

"Oh, don't thank me." He replied. "Thank John Smith."


End file.
